How to Train Your Village
by david255
Summary: A common jump off point where Toothless meets Astrid for the first time. This time, Astrid picks up her axe as she runs away. Is it worth the risk to chase an armed and dangerous girl?
1. Chapter 1

This story is going to deviate from the movie at a very common point. A single decision by Hiccup changes everything. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hiccup was the only thing standing preventing a full blown fight that would certainly lead to bloodshed. The black dragon could have easily knocked him to the side to get to the girl Hiccup was protecting, yet it stayed respectfully behind the boy. "She's a friend," he told the great beast and to the girl's surprise, it calmed down. "You scared him." Hiccup told the frightened girl as the dragon made another halfhearted attempt to get past Hiccup.

"I scared HIM?" It was an impossible situation. She had concentrated so much on the dragon in front of her that she never expected Hiccup to blind side her and rip her axe from her hands and toss it away. Now defenseless, the scrawny boy was the only thing between her and being ripped to shreds on midnight black claws. Then her mind caught up with her situation, "Who is 'him'?"

She could never quite appreciate Hiccup's sarcasm. It was way of dealing with an uncomfortable situation, but for the village screw-up, that was most of the time. And he did it now. Standing up straight, calm as you please, he made introductions, "Astrid, Toothless. Toothess, …Astrid" The dragon hissed menacingly at her but made no move against her.

Astrid was so focused on the night fury that she missed the nervousness Hiccup displayed at the dragon's continued aggression. A lot of small events suddenly made sense to her; how the dragons seemed to fall at his feet or how the scrawny screw-up seemed to take them down so fast without ever injuring them. He was working with the dragons the entire time, not against them. And if he was with the dragons that meant he was against Berk and the Hairy Hooligans. She turned and ran, gambling that the boy still had some decency left in him to not attack her from behind.

"Dun, da-daa, We're dead." Hiccup said to no one in particular. The dragon seemed pretty pleased with himself since the intruding female left, satisfied that he had scared her off. He turned and went back to the baskets his rider had brought. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're going?" Hiccup took one last glance in the direction Astrid had run just in time to see her scoop up her axe as she ran. She didn't even look back.

"Come on, Toothless, we've got to stop her. She could ruin everything." Hiccup said as he ran up to the dragon. Toothless picked up the half-filled basket and dropped it in front of the boy. It held some clothes and a few provisions; just enough to help him survive once he left. That was his original intention after all. He could still leave. Besides, there was no way Astrid could return to the village, tell her story and bring someone back that could stop him, after all.

Plus she had her axe. One good throw could cripple or even kill Toothless, not to mention himself. Trying to stop her would not end well. The only choice left was to leave and never return.

"Yeah. Come on, bud. We have a long flight ahead of us." Hiccup stowed the rest of his things in the basket, including some tools and extra metal rods for Toothless' tail. Once he was set he took off with Toothless, soaring over the island that was no longer his home.

Dammit, he didn't want it to be this way. It would have been better if simply disappeared, but now with Astrid going to tell her story, he would be branded a traitor. He couldn't return if he wanted to. That was what really bugged him. He knew, logically, that he was leaving forever, but it always seemed that there would be some way back, even for a visit. Just to let his dad know he was all right. Now, with Astrid telling her version of everything, that was no longer an option.

Hiccup was jerked from his thoughts as Toothless went into a sudden dive. Surrounded by fog, rock pillars jutting up from the ocean appeared in front of him, he had a pretty good idea where he was. Helhiem's gate.

"Bud? What is it? What's going on?" But Toothless didn't respond. Changing the tail angle would do little good now, or worse, it could send them crashing into the stone columns that raced by them.

Suddenly, another dragon appeared to his left, a monstrous nightmare carrying a wild yak. Another appeared, a nadder carrying a large fish. Others appeared to his right. Then more behind him and above him, all of them carrying some sort of food item. And he was right in the middle of all of them.

"Toothless, you got to get us out of here." Hiccup touched the dragon's neck to get his attention, but Toothless shrugged him off and continued with the dragon flight. Like it or not, Hiccup was along for the ride. He flicked the tail as great black rock columns appeared suddenly out of the fog directly in their path. None of the other dragons seemed to have a problem navigating this deadly maze either. He had no choice but to simply follow along.

Ahead the fog cleared as a large volcano loomed in front of them. The dragons didn't slow as they dove into a cave leading to the glowing interior. Toothless finally broke from the flight and landed on a narrow shelf behind a stalagmite. Hiccup watched as all the dragons flew by, dropping their load of food into the glowing hole. It made no sense to him, why bring food all this way just to trash it?

The last of the dragons went by until an old, nearly feeble gronkle wandered in and regurgitated a single small fish. That was when something at the bottom of the glowing hole roared its disapproval of the tiny fare. The gronkle seem suddenly frightened and tried to speed away from the hole as fast as its tired wings could carry it. It wasn't fast enough as a giant dragon head shot up out of the hole and closed its jaws around the gronkle. Every dragon in the cavern attempted to make itself as small as possible and not draw the attention of the great beast.

"What the…?" Every expletive Hiccup had ever heard from every Viking and sailor that ever lived in or visited Berk flashed through Hiccups mind at that moment, though none made it out of his mouth. The giant head began to sink back into the hole when it stopped and started smelling the air. The great eye of the beast rotated and fixed on the corner that Hiccup and Toothless were hiding in. "Time to fly, Toothless. Now!" Luckily, Toothless did not hesitate as enormous jaws snapped shut where he had been just a second ago.

The cavern erupted into chaos as all the dragons attempted to leave, some flew into the crevices that lead outside and some spiraled up to the hole at the top of the volcano. Hiccup pulled Toothless into a vertical climb as the giant dragon came after them. The great teeth snapped shut just behind Hiccup again, but a zippleback had flown too close and was now little more than a snack.

Toothless did not stop his breakneck speed away from the volcano that was at the center of Helheim's Gate until he had cleared the fog that surrounded it. Hiccup urged the dragon to land on one for rock formations jutting out of the sea. Hiccup fell to his knees as he caught his breath. He had never been so terrified, even when Toothless had him under his claws in their first encounter. Finally calm he tried to make sense of what he had witnessed.

The dragons fed it. They were scared to death of it but they still fed the giant dragon at the middle of the volcano. Why? The volcano had to be some sort of nesting area for dragons. It made sense; dragons were nearly fireproof, after all. What better place to warm the eggs. If the eggs were there, that meant the giant was using them to keep other dragons under his control, forcing them to bring it food.

"The other dragons, they are slaves to that big one. Aren't they?" Hiccup asked, not taking his eyes off the fog that hid the volcano. Toothless just warbled an agreement. He too was glad to be out of there. He may be tied to a rider, but it was better than the day to day survival inside that fiery mountain.

Hiccup turned to look at Toothless when a glimmer of light caught his eye. A small hint of light on the horizon that Hiccup knew all too well: Berk. An entire village containing hundreds of lives summed up in a single flickering yellow speck.

The moon continued to rise as Hiccup considered it all. But there really wasn't any choice at all, in the end.

"We have to go back" He told Toothless. "I can't just leave them to the mercy of that… thing. I'm the only one who knows it's there. I'm sorry, Bud, but I can't leave them like that." He jumped on Toothless' back and flew toward the flickering light. If the night fury had any objections to the change in plan, he never voiced them.


	2. Chapter 2

This story is going to deviate from the movie at a very common point. A single decision by Hiccup changes everything. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing.

Stoic sat, staring at the embers of the fire, poking at it with a stick. The remaining fire seemed to cling to life on the last remaining log like a shipwreck survivor at sea. Stoic could have coaxed that flame back to an inferno, but he really didn't see it. In his head he was going over the day's events. He reflected on the pride he felt toward his son, who seemed to finally come into his own. He reveled in the encouraging words and congratulations from his people concerning his son. He remembered the anger and fear one girl portrayed as she told him of her son taking sides with a dragon. He dismissed it at the time, after all becoming friends with a dragon was such a farfetched idea and Hiccup would never turn against his the Hairy Hooligans. He and everyone that heard the story laughed at her and the Hofferson girl ran off in bitter tears.

The truth is though, the girl's story brought up all the worries and doubts Stoic ever felt toward his son. He hated it. He didn't hate his son, but disappointment was not hate. From the beginning Stoic felt cheated. A sickly son born prematurely that seemed to survive on stubbornness alone. He laughed at the thought, if there was one thing Hiccup inherited from the union of Stoic and Valhalarama was their stubbornness. If you could judge a Viking on stubbornness alone, Hiccup would be a king of many tribes.

But stubbornness by itself is not enough, and Hiccup compensated for his lack of physical strength by tempering his mind. And that's where Stoic understanding of his son ended. If it were a time of peace, he didn't doubt that Hiccup could become a great leader. But peace is not for a Viking. And Stoic felt cheated, because if Hiccup had been physically more like himself and his wife, he was sure he would have been a great father. Instead he had a son he could barely understand and rarely even talked to.

_Chuff, chuff._ Stoic poked at the embers again, releasing sparks that seemed to look for new fuel to burn, but died out before finding any.

The accusations the girl brought needed to be talked about. Even so, Stoic hated talking to his son. Not that he didn't love Hiccup, he did. But because of the size difference it seemed that even casual comments were attempts at bullying the small boy. By Frigga's mercy, let there be no argument between them. He hated seeing fear in his son's eyes when he was the cause. Still, Stoic waited.

Finally, near midnight, Stoic heard the sound he wanted to hear. The back door opened and closed. He gave quiet thanks and prepared to call for his son as soon as heard the boy's footsteps as he climbed the stairs.

But it there was only silence.

It was a bit unnerving, a sound that should have been there but wasn't. Stoic looked toward the back door but didn't find any sign of the boy.

_Chiff, chiff. _ The sound came from the other side of him. It was Hiccup, sitting next to him poking at the embers with his own stick. He was staring at the embers much in the same way that Stoic had just a moment ago; a faraway look that seemed to have all the cares of the world on his shoulders.

_Chuff._ Stoic poked at the embers. He really didn't want this moment to end; sitting with his son in companionable silence, staring at a common fire that warmed them both.

Hiccup sat there hating the moment when he would have to start talking. He was sure his dad never listened anyway. But now he had encountered something too important to just ignore. If he said the wrong thing he could be banished or worse. He really didn't want to think what worse was. He sighed. His father seemed to take this as a sign to start the conversation.

"Something on your mind, son?"

More than you know, Hiccup thought to himself. "I have to tell you something, Dad. Only… I don't know how."

"The straight up truth usually works best, you know."

Hiccup snorted a laugh, "Not this time. If you look at it too quickly, it looks pretty bad."

Stoic's heart sank. Oh, Odin, he thought to himself, please not the dragon story.

"It's about dragon training." Hiccup said and Stoic winced, being careful not to think terrible thoughts of a god he had just prayed to. "I lied to you dad." Hiccup continued, "Rather I let you believe something that wasn't quite true." Stoic remained silent and let the boy continue, "I didn't keep my end of the deal."

The big man's mind balked at this, "Wait. How could you not learn anything in dragon training? You are at the top of your class."

"I haven't been learning how to kill dragons," Hiccup clarified, "I've been learning about dragons."

"'About' dragons?" Stoic felt he should have known not to expect more from the boy who thought too much. Still knowing more about your enemy wasn't really a bad thing… yet. "What did you learn?"

"That everything we know is wrong."

"'Everything we know is wrong.' Just like that? We have been wrong for hundreds of years…"

"No, not 'just like that.'" Hiccup interrupted him. Hiccup didn't know what to say next, if he continued with 'I could have died,' or 'it was dangerous' he would be on the receiving end of a lecture and not get anything accomplished.

Stoic was taken aback by his son's blatant interruption. It bordered on disrespectful, but Hiccup had never been anything but polite whenever they talked. This time Hiccup had looked him square in the eye and spoke with a confident voice. He… admired that.

"It… wasn't easy." Hiccup finally said. Again, the weight of the world seemed to rest on the boy's shoulders as he lowered his gaze. That rankled Stoic; Hiccup had withdrawn again and was cautious with his words. …Around him, his own father. Stoic took a breath and decided to let his son control the flow of the conversation. He had something heavy on his mind, after all. The big man turned back to the fire.

"You ever consider why we are fighting the dragons, Dad?" Hiccup finally said.

"For food," Stoic replied, "and survival."

"To bring peace to the village, right?" Hiccup asked. Stoic nodded. "What would you do to bring peace to the village, Dad?"

"To protect this village, I would kill every last dragon I found." Seeing that his answer didn't satisfy his son, he continued, "Or, at least, drive them away so they wouldn't bother us."

"What if 'peace' didn't look like that, Dad? Would you still bring it to the village?"

"What do you mean, son?"

"I mean what if there was a different way? What if 'peace with dragons' actually meant becoming allies with them?"

"'Allies.'" Again Stoics mind balked at the concept. "'Allies with dragons.' Don't talk nonsense, son. That's impossible."

"No it isn't."

"Yes, it is. Dragons are nothing but bloodthirsty creatures. Murderous beasts who would kill yeh as soon as look at yeh."

"And everything we know is wrong."

Stoic couldn't believe his ears; his son was actually defending dragons. He stood up and started pacing, "For three hundred years we have done nothing but try to push those monsters back and claim this island for ourselves. You want us to throw away everything our ancestors fought for? To become allies with everything they fought against?"

"For peace, I would." Hiccup was on his feet as well, again looking at Stoic and not flinching, "For peace, wouldn't it be worth it?"

"It's impossible." Stoic was practically shouting by now. "It wouldn't matter anyway. Those creatures would turn on you in a second."

"It's not impossible. I can prove it."

"Oh for the love of…" Stoic threw up his hands.

"I said I can prove it." Hiccup insisted.

"Get serious, son!"

"I am serious, Dad. Look at me." Hiccup pointed to himself between the eyes, "Serious face."

"I've heard enough." Stoic said, "You're dreaming and asking for some miracle that can't happen. It's time to leave children's fantasies behind you, Hiccup. It's time to grow up and face reality. Tomorrow you are going to kill a dragon in front of the entire village and that will be the end of it. Now, get to bed. You need your rest." Stoic turned to go to his bedroom when he heard something that stopped him in his tracks.

"Coward."

Stoic slowly turned around, looking more dangerous by the second, till he was looking directly at his son, "What did you just say to me?"

Hiccup cursed himself. Fourteen years of never listening to a word he said and now his father finally decides to hear that. He wasn't even sure why he said it. Fine, then. If that is what it takes to get his father's attention, he certainly had it now. So be it.

"I…" Hiccup squared his shoulders and stood his ground. "I called you a 'coward.'"

"You had better explain yourself." Stoic said in a dangerous tone. "I don't take that from anyone. The only reason you get to say anything at all is because you're my son, so you'd better explain yourself and it had better be good." He drew himself up to his full, intimidating height as he stood in front of his son.

"I called you a coward because you are afraid." Hiccup willed himself to ignore the fact that his father balled his hands into tight fists. "You're so afraid of being wrong you refuse to listen to me. You will listen to Gobber. You will listen to Gothi. You will listen to every other Viking in the village, but you won't listen to me! I told you, 'everything we know is wrong.' I told you, 'I can prove it.' But none of that matters because you won't even listen to the possibility that you might be wrong because I'm the one who said it. You are afraid of listening to me."

"Yes, all right?" Stoic conceded, "Yes, I'm afraid that this little scheme of yours will backfire and blow up in your face just like one of your inventions, Hiccup."

This time, it was Hiccup who had to reign in his anger. Mentioning his failed inventions was hitting below the belt and reminded the boy why people didn't trust him in the first place. But he had called his father a coward, which was also below the belt. He had to pull this conversation back in line or lose everything.

"Fine. I'll make you a deal."

"What?" Stoic was thrown off his guard by the new direction the conversation went.

"I'm going to face that dragon in the ring tomorrow. But I'm not going to kill it."

"That's crazy." Stoic protested.

"I'm going to put it back in its cell. And when I do, I will tell you everything I know. But it will be on my terms and in my time and you… will finally… listen… to me."

"And if you don't?"

"If I don't, and I'm still alive, I'll tell you everything. No restrictions. I'll even write a letter tonight detailing everything, just in case I don't make it out alive."

Stoic winced. His son not surviving was not something he cared to contemplate. He had lost too much already with his wife gone. "This is daft. I should just call the whole thing off."

"No. Dad, don't do that. Look, I know I've never given you a reason to trust me, but I wouldn't do this if it weren't important."

And there is it was. Hiccup might have well as stabbed him through the heart with a wooden spoon. His son didn't believe he trusted him, but the truth of it was that he didn't, and that fact hurt even worse. "You haven't even told me why this is so important."

"I can't, but I will. I promise, just, not yet."

Stoic knew he would face this someday; when being a good leader meant putting your own son's life on the line one day. Yet that day still snuck up on him, "You're sure you can do this?"

Hiccup gave his old familiar smirk, "I'd stake my life on it."

Odin's eye, this went against his better judgment in every way. "Fine. Deal. Now get up to bed, we've stayed up too late as it is."

"I will. I just have a letter to write." Hiccup climbed the stairs but stopped halfway and turned back. "Thanks, Dad."

Stoic watched his stubborn son climb up to his room. He went over to the small alter in the corner that held the carved images of Odin and Thor. He knelt as he lit a candle and prayed for protection for his son and he prayed he had done the right thing.


	3. Chapter 3

First, apologies: many delays in this chapter, between graduation and a hospital stay, this is a long time in coming. This story is going to deviate from the movie at a very common point. A single decision by Hiccup changes everything. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing.

It seemed that no one believed her. Never mind she came into the village ranting like a lunatic, no one stirred, no one moved, no one cared. Hiccup was working in league with a dragon and even his dad, the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, cut her pleas off and sent her away when she pressed him about his son's traitorous behavior. Hiccup never showed up that night at the mead hall, so she had no proof of her accusations. Discouraged, Astrid had gone to bed, mulling it over.

"… leaving." Hiccup had said when he didn't think Astrid was there. "We're leaving. Let's pack up. We're taking a little vacation… forever."

Gone. That thought made her sad and pissed her off at the same time. The twerp had given up and run away like a weak coward; something that should not exist in the offspring of Stoic the Vast and Valhallarama. It was disgraceful. Not for the first time, she had wished she were the daughter of Valhallarama. She would certainly live up to such a great legacy of the elder adventurer.

But, Hiccup was gone and that put Astrid on top again, didn't it? They would ask her to kill the dragon in the ring today. This was a good thing, right? This was just as it should be "Good riddance," she thought as sleep took her.

In the morning she got ready. Today was her day. Without Hiccup to mess things up again, the honor of fighting the monstrous nightmare would default to her. This kept her in high spirits as she walked through the village.

Other villagers seemed to reflect her mood. "This is a great day for Berk long in coming," one Viking said to another. "Either Stoic's son proves himself as a Viking or the dragon makes a meal of him. Either way, we will be rid of Hiccup the Useless one way or another. It's a no-lose situation." The other Viking laughed along with him, "Yer right, but you were on the nest hunt with Stoic; you haven't seen him fight yet. I'm telling you, I think he can win."

Astrid thought the joke was on both of them, Hiccup wasn't even here.

Hiccup was there, walking next to his father as they made their way to the training ring. Disbelief turned to rage as Astrid began to stalked the pair. She couldn't confront Hiccup in front of his father without looking like a lunatic. She watched as father and son parted company in front of the ramp leading down to the arena.

Stoic made his way up to the large stone throne at the far side of the arena. As he stood there the gathering of Vikings quieted as he raised his arms. "At last, I can show my face in public again," he joked. "If anyone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being, well… Hiccup to being first in dragon training. I would have tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he's gone mad." The crowd laughed and cheered in response. "And you know it." Stoic continued, "And here we are. Many of you think Hiccup has changed, but you'd be wrong. And, you'd be right. He is still the same old Hiccup, but now, he has found, in his own way, for a Viking of small stature can overcome a much larger foe. To prove that being a Viking is not just in the strength of his arm, but in the strength of his heart and his mind. Today, my boy becomes a man. My boy becomes a Viking!"

Unseen, on the ramp, Astrid walks stealthily up behind Hiccup. At the end of Stoic's speech, the crowd cheers and Astrid grabs Hiccup's arms and twist them both painfully behind his back.

"Ow! What the..?" Hiccup exclaims as he is slammed into the wall, his wrists pinned together behind him.

"Shut up," Astrid hissed to him. With one hand she held his wrists together, with the other she lifted the back of Hiccup's vest and searched the pockets. She pulled out a medium size fish, two handfuls of grass, and an eel from around his waist. She threw these behind her, up the ramp, before turning the boy around and pulling her axe from behind her back again.

"What are you doing? I need those…"

"No more tricks," she cut him off, blocking his path to the confiscated items with her axe, "no more lies. You are going to go out there and show everyone what kind of fraud you really are."

Hiccup could only rub his sore arms as he stared at her, disbelief and betrayal written on his face. This was a side of Astrid he had never seen. Before he could say anything, Gobber came around the corner. "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead."

"…Or die trying." Astrid muttered just loud enough for Hiccup to hear.

Hiccup looked back at Astrid with a look of betrayal on his face though the young shield maiden didn't seem to be affected by it. Passing Gobber, he walked out to the center of the ring where he picked up a shield and dagger from the weapon rack. Astrid had just taken every contingency plan away from him; taming this dragon had to work, he doubted he would get a second chance.

"I'm ready," he said, though he felt anything but.

As soon as the log holding the door was winched out of place, the dragon burst forth in a shower of viscous flames. Not immediately recognizing a threat on the arena floor, the Nightmare jumped to the ironworks that caged the arena in. Growling and snarling at all the Vikings present, it shot a gout of flame through the chains, but the experienced Vikings easily sidestepped the spray. Failing to get a reaction from the crowd, the dragon finally looked to the arena floor and spotted the lone twig of a boy ready with shield and weapon for battle.

The dragon dropped from the overhead chains and slowly stalked up to the boy. If it were a normal sized Viking, the dragon would have charged, but even armed, this skinny hatchling couldn't possibly be much of a challenge. Monstrous Nightmares may love a good fight, but they also like toying with their prey.

Hiccup started talking in low easy tones, "Easy. Easy, now. It's ok." He dropped his dagger and his shield. "This is not the fight you were expecting." The dragon's eyes flicked up to the helmet Hiccup wore. Hiccup removed the helmet, "This are going to be different from now on." He tossed the helmet aside.

The crowd began to murmer, "What's he thinkin'?"

Hiccup held up his hand mere inches from the snout of the Monstrous Nightmares. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to fight them."

Stoic could hardly believe his eyes. His son stood helpless in front of a killing machine and was making _friends_ with it. And the scaly beast was going along with it. He quickly started to scan the crowd. This war with the dragons had been going on too long, someone would start protesting…

"No!" came a shrill shriek. "He's cheating. Can't you see he's cheating?!" Astrid was livid. What Hiccup was doing simply wasn't in the bounds of normal. She slammed the flat of her ax against the iron support causing the entire structure to ring. It also caused the dragon to flinch. She raised her axe and struck the iron girder again.

Hiccup watched the dragon flinch again, the slits of its eyes narrowing in irritation. _That idiot girl is going to get me killed_, Hiccup thought to himself. Several other Vikings had also started banging on the ironworks creating a loud ruckus that further irritated the dragon. Hiccup slowly lowered his hand and sank to his knees as the dragon began to shake in anger. _This is it_, he thought. _With no backup plan, I'm as good as dead. I got nothing._

The Nightmare charged, jumping to the overhead lattice once again, roaring and spitting fire at nearly everyone. Stoic was having a difficult time. "Let me through!" he roared, but the crowd of Vikings in his path pushed back against him to avoid the sprays and splashes of the Nightmares viscous fire or to allow room for the crowd to move. Knowing that if pushed back too hard, he would be putting the villagers in harm's way, so he did the only thing he could think of, picking up Vikings and tossing them behind him, away from the fire. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

The dragon jumped off the iron girders to land right behind Hiccup. It roared at the boy's head and slammed its claws down on either side the kneeling Viking and roared again, but Hiccup did not move from where he knelt and did not react to the painfully loud screeching in his ear. The dragon circled Hiccup snapping its jaws and scratching the rock around him putting on an aggressive show, yet not touching kneeling boy. And the crowd looked on amazed. The dragon should have ripped him apart by now.

Stoic had finally thrown open the outer gate and grabbed the inner portcullis, ready to heave it off it's hinges, only to be stopped by what he saw inside the arena. Hiccup lunged at the dragon's head, grabbing onto its horns. The unexpected weight slammed the head to the floor. Hiccup put one foot on the horns, holding it to the ground, while he reached around and began stroking the dragon's jawline. The dragon slowly ceased its struggling and finally went limp.

The crowd erupted into cheers … then went instantly silent again as the dragon stood up. Boy and dragon walked calmly, side by side to the dragon's pen.

Stoic opened the gate and silently walked up behind his son and the dragon until the beast was back in side its pen. He heard his son talking to it, "… and I'll be by with a basket of fish later." Stoic moved to the gate as his Hiccup put his back to the other gate and they closed it together. Hiccup looked up, surprised to see his father standing there. The two stared at each other as the log that held the pen shut slid into place. Neither could tell what the other was thinking. A variety of emotions passed across Hiccups face; shyness, pride, defiance, but, for once, his son did not look away. Stoic, himself lived up to his name; his hard eyes were unreadable.

Finally, Stoic turned to the Vikings above him, "Call a Council of Elders." He roared, and several Vikings moved to obey. Stoic put his arm around his son as they walked out of the arena together.


End file.
